WBAI LAB member and free-Pacifica supporter Jon Cohen will be getting
a very risky bone marrow transplant for his life-threatening leukemia
in about two weeks. As his note below explains, he will need platelet
donations during August to maintain his health. Anyone who can help,
please contact Jon at the email address below.

In addition, as with his last 2 hospitalizations for chemo, he will
refuse hospital food and only eat natural, vegan (cooked, not raw)
food. He would be extremely grateful for anyone willing to bring a
meal now and then to Sloan Kettering Hospital in Manhattan. If you
are interested in helping with food, please let me know. I can
provide a list of do's and don'ts.

My apologies for the delay in getting you this information. A bunch
of things have come up
that have taken much more of time than I had planned. Needless to
say, I'm completely
moved that so many of you have offered to help with this.

It turns out that the primary need that I will have during the
critical period--August 1 (the
newly adjusted transplant day) to about August 21--will be for
platelets. Platelet donations
don't require any prescreening the way white cell donations do. So
in this case, there is
nothing that people need to do at this point, other than being
willing to be available on short
notice for the above period of time. Because of the short period of
time that platelets are
effective and storable (only five days), it will be useful to have
your numbers for contact.
Someone on my family support team will coordinate this. (You can
email me your phone
numbers if you're not sure I have them). The donation process takes
90 minutes and must
be done at the blood donor center at Sloan-Kettering (212-639-7643).
Anyone over
17 and in good health can donate. Taking various medications could
be a barrier--you
would need to check with the center. You will need to specify that
it is to be a directed
donation to me.

White cell donations may be necessary, though less likely. The
process is more involved.
Before anyone can donate, you need to register and be prescreened at
the blood donor
center. It involves going down there sometime before August 1 if
possible. The center is
located at 1250 First Avenue, between 67th and 68th. The hours are
Tuesday-Thursday
8:30am to 7:00pm and Friday-Monday 8:30am to 3:00pm. You can just
show up without
an appointment, but if you need to call, the number again is
212-639-7643. I don't know
how long it will take but it's probably best to plan for an hour or
two. The actual donation
process will take at least two hours. The criteria are as follows:
You must be at least 110
pounds, aged 17-75 and in good health. The list of barriers include
a history of various
diseases, from hepatitis to HIV, and certain medications (you would
need to call for
specifics). Also, no tattoos in the past year or any history of
injecting drugs. There are
are also two questionable, or I should say, inappropriate guidelines.
One is homophobic:
you can't donate if you're a man who's had sex with another man since
1977. The other
is ridiculous: you can't donate if you've ever used an illegal drug.
On these two counts,
as far as I'm concerned, I don't mind you lying for me. Having said
that, I'll leave it to
each person's judgement.

So many of you have sent me so much love and support, and at the same
time asked
for more concrete ways to help. This will end up being something
that could be critical
to my survival. Words couldn't possibly describe my appreciation for
anyone who
could do this. And at the same time, please don't feel bad or guilty
if this isn't possible
or doesn't work out for you.

My bone marrow transplant has been officially rescheduled. My donor
has communicated that she is available on July 30 and 31 to make the
donation of her stem cells. One of those days will become "Day 0,"
my transplant day. I will enter the hospital approximately ten days
before to begin the conditioning chemotherapy treatment, probably on
July 22. (Apparently, the lack of certainty at the moment is
designed to leave flexibility for logistical reasons) I will be
returning to Memorial Sloan-Kettering, where I underwent treatment
for my first bout of cancer 6 years ago.

Barring another recurrence or any other unforeseen obstacles, it
appears that I am finally on my way to this long-awaited medical
climax. With less than two weeks to go, I am undergoing the final
medical preparations and busily taking care of more personal
preparations. I have recovered enough from my recent rounds of chemo
that I can focus now on rebuilding and strengthening myself for the
transplant. I am doing my best to gain a few extra pounds in order
to deal with the probability that the chemo will create severe
mucositis (mouth and throat sores) for a couple of weeks, which will
make eating very difficult. I am continuing to do research and
consult about nutritional issues and other strategies for best
surviving this ordeal. And I have been, and will continue, c
onsulting with those special few of you who are transplant survivors.

I won't repeat here the details of the transplant, as they are
outlined in my Update #10. (For a refresher, please refer back to
that, specifically beginning in paragraph 10. And please let me know
if any of you did not receive it or want me to resend it.) The
protocol and timing remain the same; only the dates have changed.
The most critical time periodóthe time when my life will be literally
hanging in the balance, and the time when your love, prayers and
visualizations will be most neededówill be during the first two to
three weeks in August.

The imminence of the transplant is again creating anxiety and
trepidation for my family, Liz and I. At the same time, I feel a
greater sense of calmness and confidence than I ever imagined I would
at this point, and I feel it influencing them. After spending two
years thinking about this and researching it, not to mention feeling
emboldened by my recovery from this past winterís experience, I feel
completely ready to take on this challenge. I know that the
meditation I will do in the next week and a half will only bring me
to a deeper level of focus and determination.

Whenever possible, I have been spending time with family, friends and
co-workers. Yet as always, it never feels like enough. Since this
is true for everyone in my vicinity, including Liz, it feels
especially true for all of you who are far away. I so look forward
to a time in the near future when I can spend quality time with each
of you, no matter how far away you are. In the meantime, all I can
say is that I love you all dearly and appreciate beyond words your
being in my life. I look forward to seeing you at the recovery party.

With love and hope,

Jon

p.s. For those in the NY vicinity who are willing and able, there
is particular assistance you can offer. My indefatigable support
team of Mom, Laurie and Liz will need help in cooking my food and in
being relieved of shifts in spending nights with me. Additionally,
there is a possibility that I will need transfusions of white blood
cells, which are not readily available. Potential donors need to
register and be tested ahead of time at the hospital. If needed at
some point, the donation procedure would take a couple of hours.
Anyone can be a white cell donor (blood type doesnít have to match
mine). Please let me know if you are interested.